Domeniul Coroanei Segarcea
is part of a century-old story
of an unquiet destiny.

Official document from 1884 certifying that Segarcea became a royal domain.

A wine for
a king

Segarcea — “the land of dream” as its Latin roots
predict — is one of the twelve domains that the
Royal House of Romania took under
administration during Carol I, King of Romania,
in 1884, by Parliament decision. This is how the
Administration of the Royal Domains (ADC) was
established.

The role of the royal domains was to support
financially the Royal House, but also to become
agricultural hubs in the avant-garde of
technology and knowhow.

Among these domains, Segarcea was assigned
the role of vineyard and winery, under the
supervision of distinguished agronomists and
winegrowers coordinated by Florian Davidescu
and Dobre Radulescu.

Ever since, the wines from Domeniul Coroanei
Segarcea have accompanied the country’s kings
and statesmen to diplomatic receptions and
witnessed history making, like a faithful servant.

His Majesty King Mihai, Princess Margareta of Romania, and Anghel family at Domeniul Coroanei Segarcea winery.

A vineyard that was loved and respected gave to
its King the best of its potential.
Domeniul Coroanei Segarcea was born as a
rootstock and vine nursery, where 60 varietals
were produced, then became a vineyard of 300
ha. Between 1906 and 1908 the winery was built,
based on the project of two Romanian architects,
Iosif Exner si Jean Pompilian, under Stefan Făgădău
supervision.
It was one of the first buildings made of steel
reinforced concrete in Romania. Designed in a
greek cross shape and built for gravitational
winemaking, the new cellar bore the royal
symbols of the Crown: the royal family coat of
arms and the royal lilies chaplet that
embellished its entry.

The royal family coat of arms and the royal lilies chaplet embellish the cellar entry

The domain thrived under the administration of
the Royal House and the qualities of the terroir
were officialy recognised when, by an ordinance
of the Council of Ministers issued in May 1929,
the vineyard in Segarcea was recognised as
„having the right to obtain Controlled
Denomination of Origin (D.O.C.) wines”.
The wines produced in Segarcea were highly
prized in international competitions of the time.
When oenologist Temistocle Jugureanu was in
charge of winemaking, the products (wines and
wine-distillate) brought back gold medals from
Paris (1936).

The domain’s renaissance

During half a century of Communist rule, the
vineyard architecture underwent a profound
modification and the surfaces cultivated were
joined together, but at the same time
productivity prevailed over quality. A period of
decay followed. Then, by a fortunate
coincidence, Domeniul Coroanei Segarcea was
officially taken over by the Anghel family,
Romanian entrepreneurs, on the 10th of May
2002, which is the very day of the Romanian
royalty anniversary.

Cornelia and Mihai Anghel at Domeniul Coroanei Segarcea winery.

Every single investment that
has been made ever since contributed to
restoring and preserving the royal values, with
the goal of bringing to life the highest standards
of winemaking in Romania.

The plantation was entirely reorganized starting
with 2005, so as to respect the configuration
from the royal time: 60% of the surface is
destined to red varieties and 40% to white
varieties.

The restoration of the winery was made by
extension of the original building around the
core built at the beginning of the XX-th century.
Both the old cellar architecture and the
gravitational winemaking system were
preserved.

What was added to this heritage was
state-of-the-art technology to meet the highest
standards of winemaking: stainless steel
controlled temperature tanks, pigeage
(punching down of the cap) and remontage
(pumping-over) tanks, pneumatic presses and
an entirely automatic bottling line. The grape
processing flow is also completely automatic,
which softens the mechanical intervention over
the product.

This technology allows for long
maceration-fermentation and aging of the reds
but also for capitalization of fine lees in white
wines, by perfoming bâtonnage in order to
refine the structure and emphasize the flavours.

Thus, traditional winemaking methods are respected
and implemented by cutting-edge technology, under the
careful supervision of the owner, assisted by a
French oenologist, Mrs. Ghislaine Guiraud, who creates
the lines of style in Domeniul Coroanei Segarcea winemaking.

While the Domain was gradually brought to life, particular care and interest
were granted to preserving the historical identity of the place.

The estate inherited an old plot in the vineyard, planted with Tamaioasa Roza,
dating back from the 1900s. This grape is part of the Muscat family and a
relative of Muscat Rouge de Frontignan which was once cultivated in the South of
France but seems to have disappeared. The multiplication of Tamaioasa
Roza was made by using the 2000 plants which survived in Segarcea for a
century. There are currently 14 ha planted with this grape. The Muscat grapes
come in three varietals: white, red and black – of which the red is found in
Segarcea.

The history and geography of the domain is marked by the railway built at
the end of the XIX-th century, which still cuts through the estate like an old
time scar on the face of the rejuvenated vineyard. It connects the cities of
southern Romania to those near the Danube and it was used in the past
when the Blue Train brought the Royal Family to Segarcea.

A precious wine collection with bottles dating back from 1917 to 1974 is also here to link the
past to the present. It preserves the very essence of the estate and the
proof of winemaking in Segarcea. It has inspired the philosophy of the
rejuvenated estate as the royal bottles inspired the modern choices in the
present assortment.